Group Seeks Stricter Lobbying Rules

Hollywood commissioner joins effort

November 22, 2006|By Ihosvani Rodriguez Staff Writer

HOLLYWOOD — A Hollywood civic group and a city commissioner are renewing a call for stricter lobbying rules after the arrest of Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom, who prosecutors say worked with a lobbyist in helping a sludge-handling company win an $18 million city contract.

In a letter sent to commissioners this week, a delegation representing various Hollywood civic and neighborhood groups demanded that elected officials adopt a list of rules to strengthen the city's current lobbying ordinances. The Hollywood Council of Civic Associations' suggestions mirror the rules currently being used by the county and state governments, said its president, Chuck Vollman.

The council wants to see a so-called Cone of Silence rule added to Hollywood's existing lobbying ordinances. The regulation prohibits lobbyists or company officials from having any communication with city leaders after a request for bids is issued.

"We want to get this on an agenda and see where all of the commissioners stand," Vollman said. "To us, the lobbyists often have full run of the commission and it's time to put a stop to it."

In addition to a silence rule, the group also wants to put a limit on gifts and trips paid for by lobbyists and stiff fines for violators.

The group's letter comes a week after City Commissioner Peter Bober sent out a news release urging stricter lobbying regulations. Bober, who is running against Mayor Mara Giulianti in 2008, plans to initiate a vote on a silence ordinance during the Dec. 14 city commission meeting.

Led by Giulianti, city commissioners rejected a series of lobbying rules, including a Cone of Silence provision, by a 4-3 vote in April 2005. Commissioners Cathy Anderson, Fran Russo and Wasserstrom also voted against it. The no-contact rule was not included when city officials eventually adopted new lobbying ordinances in November 2005.

Giulianti said at the time that such a ban would prohibit her and her colleagues from learning more about proposed projects and companies.

Reached aboard an airplane headed out of town late Tuesday, Giulianti said she hadn't had a chance to read the council's demands. But she said she would be in favor of a new silence rule "if it's going to make the public feel better."

At the same time, she also said she thinks Broward County's silence rule doesn't go far enough.

"If it's like the one the county has, then I am not certain how effective it is," she said. "It seems like window dressing to try to give the appearance of eliminating abuses."But Bober and Vollman pointed to Wasserstrom's arrest as proof that further lobbyist regulations are needed in Hollywood.

Last month, prosecutors charged Wasserstrom with four counts of official misconduct and one count of unlawful compensation, all felonies, for his role in helping Schwing Bioset win an $18 million contract to process Hollywood's sludge.

After the arrest, state prosecutors released a slew of e-mails showing that Wasserstrom and Giulianti exchanged conversations with Arnold Goldman, who was a lobbyist for the sludge-processing firm and who was married to Wasserstrom's aunt.

Ihosvani Rodriguez can be reached ijrodriguez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7908.